A few weeks back, at the Southern Christian Writers Conference, I had the pleasure of meeting Karen Allen, a talented lady who employs her gifts of writing, speaking, and musicianship to serve others and to share the Gospel.

She is also a cancer survivor who has used her journey to encourage others facing a similar diagnosis. She has written an inspiring Bible study called Confronting Cancer with Faith, and I recommend it to anyone seeking comfort and reassurance in the face of a life-changing disease.

I shared my story with her, and she invited me to write a guest blog post. “Next Steps” is all about the healing process, especially acceptance of a new normal, and how we who have experienced the trial of a diagnosis can use our experiences to give others hope.

Check out her website, ewerblessed.com, for inspiration and insight. I thoroughly enjoyed reading all her links, and I’ve added something to my bucket list: serving with the Global Missions Project on a musical mission trip! I could work my chops back into shape and play the trumpet, and I could even be persuaded to dust off the piano and keyboard.

Here’s my featured post. It would honor both me and Mrs. Allen if you would visit it on her site. The friend I had in mind when I wrote it is in the recovery process of a double mastectomy. She’s one tough cookie, as are all of us who have gone through it.

As I say in my post, with each day, with each step, I pray, “Thank you, Lord, for bringing me this far.”

I have a feeling it won’t be long before my friend says the same thing.